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Public defenders say Beate Zschäpe, the main suspect in the high-profile NSU trial, should be set free. The lead defender accused the court and German authorities of a miscarriage of justice.

During final sentencing pleas on Tuesday, court-appointed defenders for accused right-wing terrorist Beate Zschäpe called for her immediate release from prison. Zschäpe is accused of being a member of the right-wing terror group National Socialist Underground (NSU) and thus of having been a co-conspirator in a series of robberies, bombings and 10 murders across Germany, nine of which were racially motivated.

Speaking on behalf of the court-appointed defense team, which Zschäpe herself disavowed yet the court still recognizes as her counsel, Wolfgang Heer called the charges against her "monstrous." Demanding the "immediate release" of the defendant, Heer said: "Ms Zschäpe is not a terrorist, not a murderer and not an assassin. She should be acquitted of all crimes against the state."

Chronicle of the NSU murders

A mysterious string of murders

For years, neo-Nazis of the right-wing organization National Socialist Underground (NSU) killed people across Germany. The suspects: Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt (center) and Beate Zschäpe. Their victims: eight people of Turkish origin, one Greek man and a German policewoman. Their motive: xenophobia. Until 2011, the German public was not aware of the scope of their crimes.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Unsuccessful bank robbery

The murder spree was uncovered on November 4, 2011, when Mundlos and Böhnhardt robbed a bank in the east German town of Eisenach. For the first time, they failed. Police officers surrounded the caravan in which the two men were holed up. A later investigation concluded that Mundlos first shot and killed Böhnhardt, then set the caravan on fire and killed himself.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Zschäpe turns herself in

Shortly after the death of Böhnhardt and Mundlos there was an explosion at Frühlingsstraße 26 in Zwickau, in the state of Saxony. Beate Zschäpe lived at that address together with the two bank robbers. Zschäpe allegedly set the house on fire to destroy evidence. Four days later, she turned herself in to the police. The terror suspect has been custody since that day.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

The truth comes out

In the ruins of the Zwickau flat, police officers found a self-made video in which the terror cell claimed responsibility under the name of the NSU, the National-Socialist Underground. The 15-minute video shows crime scenes and pictures of the victims killed by the right-wing terrorist group between 2000 and 2007.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

NSU claim responsibility

Famous cartoon character The Pink Panther hosts the amateur video, which is full of slogans of hatred against people with an immigrant background and which mocks the murder victims. Before her arrest, Zschäpe allegedly sent out copies of the video in which the NSU claimed responsibility for the crimes.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Verbal slip-ups

Until 2011, the term "döner murders" was frequently used when reporting about the killings. Nothing was known about the connection between the individual cases, nor about the motive. There were rumors the victims were linked to the drug scene. But the NSU's video left no doubt. The term "döner murders" was chosen as Germany's "Unwort des Jahres" (doublespeak of the year) in 2011.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

NSU also behind Cologne pipe bomb

"The findings made by our security authorities so far show no indication of a terrorist background, but of a criminal milieu," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily on June 10, 2004. A day earlier, a pipe bomb explosion in Cologne left 22 people injured and many shops damaged. In 2011, it became clear: the NSU’s right-wing terrorists were also behind the Cologne bombing.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Memorial service in Berlin

On February 23, 2012, Germany commemorated the victims. At the ceremony at a Berlin concert hall, the focus was on the relatives of the victims. Semiya Simsek (right), the daughter of the murdered flower stand owner Enver Simsek, gave an emotional speech. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an official apology to the victims and promised them that all questions would be answered.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Memorial for Mehmet Kubasik

"Dortmund is a colorful, tolerant and welcoming town – and opposes right-wing extremism!" This statement was made by mayor Ullrich Sierau at the unveiling of the memorial stone for NSU victim Mehmet Kubasik in September 2012. The memorial was set up just meters away from the kiosk in which Kubasik was killed on April 4, 2006.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Solidarity with the victims

On November 4, 2012, exactly a year after the terror cell was uncovered, people in many German cities staged solidarity demonstrations against right-wing extremism. The protesters called for thorough investigations into the racially motivated murders - which in their view was not happening fast enough.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Maximum of 10 years?

Believed to be the last survivor of the NSU trio, Zschäpe went on trial in May 2013. Since then, more than 800 witnesses have been heard. Zschäpe did not speak for the first two and a half years of the trial. Her lawyers, one of whom, Hermann Borchert, is seen here next to his client, called in their final plea for a maximum sentence of 10 years, saying she was not guilty of complicity in murder.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Or a life sentence?

Federal prosecutors have called for Zschäpe to be given a life sentence for her role in the killings. She has been charged with joint complicity in 10 counts of murder, arson, robbery, extortion, the formation of a terrorist organization and membership in a terrorist organization. Four others at the trial are also accused of helping the NSU. A final ruling is expected sometime after June 2018.

Author: Anna Peters / nh

No kitchen table mastermind

Heer accused state prosecutors and police of having committed "grave procedural breaches," pointing to incidents that occurred shortly after her arrest in November 2011. He also accused presiding judge Manfred Götzel of "willfully deceiving" the defense.

Heer claimed that prosecutors had no evidence Zschäpe was directly involved in murders allegedly carried out by Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, with whom she lived for years and during which time the crimes took place. Heer said Zschäpe had been nowhere near the scenes of any of those crimes and that she did not plan them "from the kitchen table."

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NSU trials in Germany: drag on

NSU trials in Germany: drag on

Heer said the only crime his client could be found guilty of was arson, for having torched the apartment she shared with Böhnhardt and Mundlos in the eastern German city of Zwickau after the two killed themselves two hours away in Eisenach as police closed in. Zschäpe has admitted to setting the apartment on fire. Arson carries a minimum sentence of 12 months and a maximum of 10 years.

Time served

Heer's call for Zschäpe's release is based on the fact that she has already spent six years and seven months behind bars and has exhibited good behavior during that time.

The defense's sentencing plea is the last to be delivered to the court and signals the likely end to the long-running trial, which began in May 2013. Prosecutors have called for the court to sentence Zschäpe to life in prison for her role in the crimes as well as her membership in a terrorist organization. Zschäpe's additional defense team, which the court does not recognize as her legal counsel, called for her to be given a maximum sentence of 10 years.